Passage of Time
by Kezelle
Summary: PRIMEVAL: Parking in London can be hazardous for your health. NickClaudia V mild AbbeyConner
1. Chapter 1

Title: Passage of Time

Author: Kezelle

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is purely for fun and I make no money etc.

Pairing: Nick Cutter/ Claudia Brown Mild Abby/ Steven

Set: After episode 5.

Rating T? (PG) Just to be safe.

Parking in London is Hazardous to your Health.

Prologue

The car park attendant was probably on drugs. Claudia Brown recognised the spaced out glaze in the youngster's eyes. Unfortunately for her, the teen had defiantly seen something. The half eaten corpse lying next to the Mercedes proved it.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ryan cock his head to the side as his ear piece sprang to life, pressing the device closer to his ear. She was being to think that the ear piece was permanently embedded in the man's ear. He listened for a moment before turning to her.

"CTV confirms the creature hasn't left the building. There are men at every entrance."

'Well at least that was something,' she mused; the creature was trapped in the basement car park, five levels of underground parking half full with cars, poorly lit and a dangerous carnivore on the loose.

Ryan handed over his palm pilot. "We have an image of the animal on the only security camera that actually works in this pit."

She glanced curiously at the picture then blinked twice in almost disbelief. Moving closer she took a closer look at the screen.

"Are those feathers?" She asked the Special Forces officer. "They can't be."

"It looks like it. Weird. It's a small one. About five foot head to tail, definitely a carnivore. It's barely detectable on the thermal tracker but we believe it to be on the lower third floor. No sign of the anomaly."

"Have you sent this to Cutter?"

"Smith's on it."

"Alright. You'd better go. See if you can locate the anomaly or the creature."

The sound of a car stopping behind her caused Claudia to turn and was disappointed to see Abbey instead of the professor. Abbey Maitland on seeing her jogged up to the mini command centre the soldiers where setting up.

"Hey, what have we got?" She asked eagerly.

Claudia secretly envied the younger woman's excitement. Between dealing with Lester, Cutter and the endless paperwork involved in the freaky circus the anomalies where generating, she had no energy or time to savour the pure magnificence of these prehistoric creatures.

"No idea. Cutters stuck in traffic."

"Are those feathers?" Claudia had to smile at her colleague's disbelief.

"No sign of the anomaly or the creature or Cutter." Claudia huffed and looked at her watch. "Where is he?"

Abbey was starring at the picture, frowning in concentration.

"Claudia. His feet look like those erm… what are they called? Jurassic Park…" The older woman shook her head in confusion. "You know,…the intelligent ones…"

Claudia's expression cleared, "Raptors."

"Yeah, Velioraptors!"

Claudia starred off into space in astonishment.

"I only said they looked like them. They might be cousins or summit."

Claudia picked up the radio to warn the soldiers to stick together, vague memories of the film running though her head. Films had to have some basis in fact, right.

Her mobile rang as soon as she'd finished on the radio.

"Claudia Brown."

"Claudia, Sorry the traffics murder. We will be there in ten. Have the troops gone in?"

"Yes, Cutter tell me this isn't a kind of Velioraptor."

There was a surprised silence she dreaded before he got back on the phone. "It's not a velioraptor but it is related to them. It's a Sinornithosaurus."

"A what! What kind of name is that!"

"Latin. It's a carnivore, thought to be intelligent. Tell the team."

"Already done."

"Claudia. How many are there?"

"Just the one."

"One? Are you sure? These are pack animals…"

There was silence at the other end of the phone. Cutter glanced sideways at Steven who was driving.

"Claudia? Are you there?" The unnerving long silence continued before her voice finally answered. Deathly calm, shaking and hushed she spoke into the phone.

"Nick, I'm going to have to call you back." She hung up.

"Steven, step on it."

She couldn't move, couldn't speak if her life depended on it. Abbey was frozen in place beside her, her eyes wide with disbelief. The three Special Forces officers with them also stood motionless, instinct holding them in place.

In front of her, only six short feet away, sharp eyes watched. Was she imagining the frightening gleam she'd seen in its eye?

The creature had wandered slowing into the room as she talked with Nick and fixed its eyes on the occupants of the ground floor. The effect was staggering.

She could feel her hands trembling at her sides and prayed they wouldn't drop the mobile she gripped in sweaty fingers.

Everything screamed at her to run. Fight or flight had kicked in and, God, she wanted to run.

There was another sort of growl from her left which had her close her eyes in terrorized disbelief. Claudia opened her eyes and they slid to the side slowly where a second Raptor came around the wall from the lower level. What had happened to the team sent down to the upper floors? She didn't want to know.

The prolonged silence was a stalemate. She held her breath, hoping to put of the result of this standoff.

"Home-base, we have the target insight!" The radio on the make shift table sprang to life and the raptors sprang to life. The officers opened fire on the advancing monsters unaware of the third monster approaching from behind.

Abbey and Claudia hit the deck and crawled to the walls, searching for safety behind the parked cars, the raptors distracted by the bullets scorching the air.

Ryan was shouted over the radio, adding to the screams of one of the soldiers as a Raptor leapt onto his front and went for his throat. His screams cut of with a sickening gag. The second officer was already down and the third injured but still firing.

Claudia grabbed the downed soldier's weapon that had slid across the floor and aimed at the hissing menace. Abbey managed to reach the downed soldier using a metal chair to fend off the creature aiming for him, dragged the man towards one of the parked vehicles. The weapon was alien to her hands but effective, she counted one dead, the other two injured. She could hear footsteps racing towards them. Ryan's men?

Then the soldier's weapon jammed, leaving Claudia's automatic weapon their only line of defence. Taking advantage of this, one of the raptors leapt at her. He was dead before he reached her, but his sacrifice was not in vain. The automatic was knocked out of her hands and she was thrown to the floor. One of the raptors sharp, curved nails embedded in her side, forcing a painful cry to wrench from her throat. Another fresh raptor appeared and he joined the remaining creature, stalking the three humans. Claudia looked around desperately for something, anything she could find to use as a weapon. There was nothing. She started to pull herself to her feet when the raptor focused on her began to leap… and was hit in midair by a flying piece of wood.

Not flying, thrown, by Steven as he had Cutter ran towards them from the other side of the enclosed car park.

"Claudia. Run!!" Cutter yelled before grabbing another box and throwing it at the raptor, now turning toward him. She run for the safety of the cars, barely aware of the sudden charge to the air and then let out a shocked gasp as an anomaly shattered the air in front of her, causing her to skid to a stop, falling hard to the floor not a foot away from the threshold. Her head hit the ground with an audible smack, concussing her immediately as an explosion of pain ripped through her skull. The last raptor, the other surrendering to his injuries, also noticed the anomaly and recognized it, lurching toward the bright portal.

Abbey, who had crawled to Claudia's aid, screamed as the creature came upon them. Steven grabbed his knife, almost in striking distance, but slipped on the bloody floor, falling to his knees and sending the knife spinning out of his hand.

The raptor swept past the woman carrying on into the anomaly, knocking them into the anomaly just as it started to collapse.

Nick and Steven watched in horror as the anomaly disappeared taking Abbey, Claudia and the Raptor with it.

TBC

Thanks for taking the time to read tthis. Feedback would be happily recieved. Should i write more??


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two : On the wrong side

Claudia would never remember the next few hours. Abby would never forget. No sooner than she had landed on top of an unconscious Claudia, the anomaly shimmering two foot above the ground, collapsed. She was in the middle of an open grassy plain, next to Claudia's prone body and facing one snaring raptor, the only one to have made it though. She froze, her hand finding the knife that had been knocked though. Fear had a choke hold on her as she waited for the wounded beast in front of her to make the first move, praying that Claudia didn't make any noise or move.

Gripping the plastic handle she watched and waited as her nerves slowly shredded. The creature made one small movement towards her then stopped. He stood still for what could have only been seconds, but felt a lot longer before darting into the trees. Abbey released a nervous breath until she wondered why they had been granted a reprieve. Then she heard it, the sound of heavy, fast moving, heavy feet. The air was gradually filled with the sounds of grunting and a strange calling which got louder with the sound of a stampede. She didn't look back at the sound. To her left, was a heavy fallen tree. Acting without much thinking, she hauled Claudia who was barely clinging to consciousness to her feet and stumbled to the fallen trunk. It seemed to take forever, but they finally reached the trunk just as the stampede reached them. Claudia had fallen to the ground with a painful groan and Abby was certain it would take a near miracle for the older woman to get back on her feet.

The herd side swept them, the huge tree shook as they passed, Abby watched in stunned silence at the fast moving creatures, unable to identify a single one though the adrenalin haze. She had forgotten about the hungry Raptor. The desperate creature had his cunning eyes fixed on the blond girl as he crept closer to Claudia's unmoving figure on the ground. She heard him too late, but it didn't matter. The beast was caught by the tail of one of the tails of a large herbivore as charged past. Abbey watched the raptor fly though the air before landing with a heavy thud a good distance away. She'd heard the nasty crunch of the raptors ribs as the tail had caught them and knew it was no longer a threat.

Breathing heavily she helped Claudia closer to the shelter of the trunk. The older woman had begun to regain her senses and winced at the pain in her side. The wound wasn't as deep as she first thought, but it had bled a lot. A quick inventory uncovered one knife, a pack of gum, a ballpoint pen, two belts, a set of car keys, a mobile, an MP3 player and a wad of tissues. Looking toward the former anomaly, Abbey noticed something on the ground. The group of large herbivores who had stampeded toward them earlier were grazing carelessly not too far away. Not that it meant they were safe from any predators, but Abbey felt both she and Claudia would be safe if she went to check it out. Moving slowly, as not to alarm the huge herbivores, she walked, crouched down, toward the strange object. It was a SAS med kit. Abbey nearly cried as she scooped it up and hurried back to Claudia. How the hell, the med kit had got though the anomaly, it was a god-send.

Oh Boy," Claudia sighed heavily, now able to think straight looking at their surroundings. "Any idea where we are?"

"Not a clue." Abby informed her with a grim look on her face as she cleaned the other woman's wound. It was not as deep as she had feared, but it was still nasty. The kit contained a bottle of disinfectant. Claudia braced herself as Abbey poured as much as she could into the wound. Being as economical as she could with the sterile dressings, Abbey quickly covered the wound.

"The anomaly's gone. We need to find a safe place…" Claudia eyed the herbivore dinosaurs uneasily.

"Those are veggies." Abbey told her. "And I think they were running from something earlier. They feel safe but I think we should make a move, maybe into the forest. More cover in there."

Before sunset, they found a river, where they washed or got rid of blood stained clothes. No need for any predators to pick up the scent of blood. A thick thatch of bushes would provide some shelter from the unknown outside. They took turn at keeping watch at night, though neither really slept. Unable to accept the reality.

They were trapped in the past.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Waiting

They waited for three weeks, the underground car park cordoned off from the public. The bodies of the pack of Raptors were incinerated, the two soldiers killed buried and the three injured recovering in Charing Cross Hospital. But there was no sign of the two women. Cutter sat on a crate, alone in the car park. This anomaly had appeared for the last time. He knew it. The one that had swallowed the two women hadn't been stable, collapsing before it had fully emerged. A few seconds later and they couldn't have fallen though it.

Tomorrow the site of the anomaly would be encased in concrete, making it impossible for anything to come though. Or anyone. Abbey and Claudia were on their own. For three weeks he had held his breath waiting for a shimmer, an electrical spark that signalled an anomaly. Or a phone call telling him that they had wondered though another tear. The Special Forces officers stood watch silently nearby, warily of the still man. Nick hadn't shaved for at least a week, his clothes were creased and as worn out as the man that wore them. Unable to rest for unsettling thoughts of his friends' fate, the professor had thrown himself into his research, trying to understand the anomalies and find some way to help recover them.

He sat there trying to convince himself that she was alive. That she and Abbey had escaped the Raptor and were able to find shelter. Hopefully they would find an anomaly and get home. Or find Helen who might show them the way back to the present. He tried hard to be optimistic but as always it was not in his nature. It was difficult for him to be any different with the hand life had continued to deal him. It was harder as he pictured Claudia standing in his office not six months ago offering her condolences for the loss of his wife. He could remember her standing in that very spot, remember every word of that conversation.

"**What makes you so sure she's dead?"**

"**She was lost millions of years in the past. How could she be anything else?"**

In his fingers he held a Polaroid photo taken months back at a restaurant. It was part of a larger picture which had included Steven, Abbey and Conner which was now tacked on his notice board in the office. This little portion, showed a relaxed Nick with an arm wrapped around an equally at ease Claudia, her head dropping slightly on his shoulder as the five of them had squeezed together for the shot.

Steven had 'accidently' mentioned that it was Nicks birthday in front of Conner and Abbey who had insisted on taking him out for a meal. It was after they had spent nine hours chasing a herd of ostrich type Ornithomimus animals and shepherding them back into the obliging anomaly. They had dragged Nick who had convinced Claudia to come along, to the busy Italian restaurant and proceeded to get plastered.

**Claudia had decided it was more fun to watch them get wasted and elected herself the designated driver and drove them all to their separate homes. He had sat in the car and chuckled as he watched her and Abbey hauling the practically unconscious Conner into Abbeys flat. He'd insisted on being last to be taken home, in his drunken state he'd wanted to say with Claudia for as long as possible and had been teasing her about getting a birthday kiss. **

**He couldn't remember what they had talked about on the drive to his house, but he'd remembered the sound of her laugh. She'd been laughing and smiling a lot that night. He had made her laugh and smile. They had pulled up at his house and he'd been reluctant to leave the car for the lonely house.**

"**You want to come in?" He asked timidly. Claudia looked beautiful in the street light and so out of his league. **

"**Better not," She told him with a gentle smile before breathing a huge sigh of displeasure, "I've got an early start. Paperwork."**

"**Ouch." Nick sympathised. "I want to get an early start too, lots of research I need to get done."**

**Claudia laughed at that shaking her head in amusement before tilting her head and giving him an affectionate look. **

"**Nick, you will lucky to make it in before midday."**

"**Yeah?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**You think I'm too drunk."**

"**It would be totally unfair on the rest of us if you make it in to work early tomorrow without feeling extremely rough."**

"**Well I don't want to make you lot look bad." **

**They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Something new and amazing that had taken years to develop with Helen. **

"**Nick, you need to go to bed." Claudia told him. **

**Come with me. The thought passed though Nicks head but thankfully that was where it stayed. He was drunk and he knew it. Instead an equally unplanned reply shot out.**

"**I haven't had my birthday kiss yet."**

**Claudia eyes widened and sparkled in amusement.**

"**Do you think you deserve one."  
"Yep,"**

"**And you think I should be the one to give it to you."**

"**Yep,"**

"**Why?"  
"You've kissed me before."**

"**That was a quick fake kiss." Claudia teased him. "It was a matter of life and death."**

"**And a great ice breaker," Nick agreed causing her to laugh out loud again. He didn't give her a chance to delay any further and leaned over the console. One hand slid around her neck and quickly, but gently pulled her towards him. He pressed his lips against her soft and luscious mouth. He'd taken her by surprise but she wasn't shocked and she didn't pull away. Instead she'd slowly allowed her lips to part, permitting him to deepen the kiss. It sent a long slow thrill though him, his heart raced, his palms sweat and his mouth was set on fire. The kiss ended gradually, naturally. Nick allowed himself a few quick soft kisses, brushes really before pulling back just enough to look into her shiny, bright eyes. **

"**Thank you, Claudia Brown." **

"**Happy Birthday, Nick."**

He heard someone approach from behind him and quickly put the photo away before turning to see the depressed figure of Conner drop onto the crate next to him. Conner was missing Abbey like his right arm. He had camped out in the car park, leaving it only to feed Rex and Abbeys' other reptiles. He had taken Lesters' decision to seal the anomaly badly despite Nick telling him that there was next to no chance of the anomaly recurring. He'd woken in the middle of the night convinced Abbey and Claudia had been killed by the Raptor that had gone though with them, or that other deadly predators had them.

"Thought you said it wouldn't reopen." He asked Cutter almost sulkily, but with an undercurrent of fear. What if Nick was wrong and it would reopen after the concrete was set.

"It won't." Cutter told him firmly, unhappily, his eyes never moving from the empty space in front of him. If sheer willpower could open a rift, Claudia and Abbey would be home in seconds.

"Then why are you here?"

"I'm hoping for a miracle."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Survival

Chapter Four: Survival

Abby sat tiredly at the entrance of the small makeshift shelter that had protected them for the past few days. Claudia's concussion had taken a toll on the older woman, leaving the responsibility of safety, food and drink down to Abby. Her platinum blond hair was now coated with the thick mud, allowing her to blend into the background. This had come in useful whilst scouting for food.

There were predators in the forest. Small carnivores with teeth wandered though the tightly packed conifer forest looking for prey. The air was hot and wet. She'd stumbled across a large clutch of hatched eggs, but a dinosaur had got there first. She'd watched, unmoving as the animal ate the dead hatchling. The creature itself was about her size and paid her no attention. He was happily eating his food using his short front arms and teeth to grip the meal

There were larger creatures also traversing the forest. Abby had done her best to disguise their shelter but she knew it stood little chance if discovered by a determined predator. Finding food was a struggle. The foreign landscape left no clues as to what plants they could eat. She'd taken a chance with some berries which appeared to have been harmless and some tasteless leaves. Rain water was found in vegetation and she had carefully transported the fluid in a large leaf for Claudia, who was unable to eat for the first two days due to nausea.

Abby watched her friend as she slept restlessly. She was nearly recovered from the concussion but her wound was showing signs of infection. The antiseptic was nearly gone, and they were on their last sterile bandage.

The stillness of the forest was broken by the sounds of rushing feet, large and small. Something was wrong. Leaving the shelter, she ducked back in as a large two legged carnivore tore passed her, but the sharp toothed creature didn't look back.

Then she smelt it. Smoke. Wood Smoke. To the west of them, the sky was red and orange, not just with the sun. Smoke rose in a wave, from the forest. A large long neck, a juvenile that had not left the safety of the forest yet was slowly making its way toward her, as was a Stegosaurus, moving faster and charging into the corner of the shelter, missing the now awake Claudia by inches.

Claudia crawled out of the vegetation to join her friend.

"I think we should move." Abbey told her. "In a compact forest like this, that fire will move fast."

They both winced as they heard the distressed sounds of animals closer to the fire, and quickly gathered what they had. Claudia moved slowly but steadily trying to move under her own steam for as long as possible.

The forest began to thin out and the grassy plains became visible though the trees. Carefully they crept out of the forest, trying to keep themselves hidden from the beasts, the tall grass giving them little camouflage.

It was frightening. Giant, majestic animals, larger than they could comprehend marched away from the burning forest. Two big carnivores who stood on two legs, were tucking into one of the small long necks that had hurried from the compromised shelter of trees and into their waiting jaws.

Claudia looked behind her. The flames were still some distance away but they were moving fast. Her muscles in her wounded side screamed in protest as she attempted to speed up.

"Oh! Please!" Abby nearly stopped. A sudden glare of little had momentarily blinded her. As it cleared she saw an almost welcome sight. It wasn't in the same place as the original and only God knew where it lead, but the anomaly hovering in the distance could be their way out of there.

Abby felt Claudia put on yet another burst of speed, amazed that the other woman was still upright but certainly not complaining. They had no way of knowing how long this anomaly would say open.

It could not have taken more than twenty minutes (ducking and hiding from the dangerous creatures around them), but it felt like hours before they reached the fragmented fracture in time. They wasted no time entering it, holding their breaths in anticipation…

Only to let it out in a painful gasp as they were hit by a strong cold gale that winded them both. It knocked them sideways into deep, fresh snow. Fighting to sit up, Abby looked at their surroundings with a heavy heart. They were on a hill side, covered in snow, with nothing insight. A few leave-less trees the only decoration in sight, nothing they could use as shelter. Abby stumbled to her feet, hauling Claudia up with her, intending to return back through the anomaly. She turned back an froze in dismay, to find nothing behind her. The portal had closed.

She sat down in utter despair, shivering, too exhausted to even cry as she stared at where the portal had been. She closed her eyes and wished that she was back in her overheated flat with Conner, trashing him on the play station whilst Rex glided happily overhead. Not here, in an ice age.

"Abby," Claudia's shout was only a whisper to her by the time it had reached her though the wind. Claudia had pulled herself up using a rock jutting out of the ground and was also taking in the desolate sight.

"We need to move."

"What's the point!" Abby argued "Where do we go."

"Get up"

"Why" Abby was shaking with cold and anguish "We're as good as dead."

"So your giving up? Abby we've got to get up. Maybe we can find shelter." 

"And prolong the inevitable?" She argued back, angry now.

Claudia's eyes flashed with fire, a slightly similar look to the one she only got whilst arguing with Cutter. But her reply was lost as another sound reached them. A child's cry.

Standing still they strained their ears till they could pinpoint the direction then made their way slowly toward it. The cold wind was biting, their clothes soaked though and exhausted.

_Abby was right_ Claudia thought, _we're as good as _dead.

Abby was walking slightly in front her, until the ground seemed to disappear under her. Claudia managed to grab her arm but was dragged to the ground with a jarring thud. Somehow she had managed to hold on to the other woman's arm. A brief but taxing struggle and Abby was back on solid ground, and they had found the source of the cry.

Abby had almost fallen down a manmade pit. Sharp wooden stakes were erected, pointing skywards. It was a trap. It looked like the mammoth trap in a TV programme her nephew had made her sit and watch. Before.

A small humanoid figure sat on the bottom of the pit, a child about the size of a twelve year old back home. Even from the distance they could tell see differences in the face, a larger boarder nose than was typical of the average modern human.

The child's face looked up at its possible rescue. He or she then huddled against the wall, in fear of the strangers. The two woman exchanged glances. The child was obviously stuck. Claudia stretched out and reached down to the child, Abby copying her. They could feel the cold seeping further though their thin layers of clothes and into their skin. But they refused to budge, afraid of spooking the child who slowly reached up to grab the offered hands.

Slowly and painfully they hauled the child out of the pit. By the time the child was safely out, Claudia was ready to pass out, but the smaller hands suddenly pulled urgently at her. The child was in some distress gesturing and pulling at them, ordering them to move with verbal sounds they could not recognise.

Reluctantly Claudia put some effort into moving, but relied heavily on Abby and the child who dragged her behind a large outcropping of rocks. Minutes later they hear the sound of large feet and the almost familiar sound of elephant trumpets. From their spot behind the stones Abby and Claudia forced back the effects of the cold to watch in wonder at the sight of the huge woolly animals marching past them.

And then there was a loud, desperate trumpet. Claudia closed her eyes in realization. One of those beautiful woolly mammoth had fallen into the pit. The child was excited, Abby and Claudia slightly sickened although they knew that it was way of the world. People needed to eat. The mammoth hurried though after that and suddenly the sound of yelling could be heard.

The child rushed forward as soon as her path was clear and ran to the group of prehistoric men, who ran toward the pit. They could see the strangers and looked as if they were about to attack before the child started gesturing and talking. The men approached the sorry looking pair.

They weren't tall men, but it was hard to see how big due to the layers of warm fur around them. They walked around the women who still shock still. They all seemed to be waiting for an order from the man who was talking to the child. He tilted his head and studied the pair for a long moment before jerking his head. The child walked forward and grabbed Claudia's arm and started to pull her forward.

Claudia managed three steps before she collapsed.

Sorry it's been a few days.

Good/ Bad?

Please review. Any constructive criticisms or suggestions welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Refuge

Chapter 5 Refuge

She was warm. Too warm, the heat was almost suffocating her. Her arms felt restrained, she couldn't move to escape.

Where was she?

The ground was white and so bright it was painful to see. Large animals with jagged teeth were chasing her and she couldn't escape quick enough, her tired limbs refusing to move faster, and the shimmering anomaly was too far away.

"Well your not going to get anywhere in that!" Lester called after her as she stumbled past him. She looked down to see chains around her ankles and her arms tangled in a straight jacket.

"Come on Claudia, put your back into it!" Steven was a few foot in front of her, a smug amused grin on his face as he watched her struggle past him. " You need to get a move on."

Still she staggered on, watching Conner come into view. What was he eating? A cheese sandwich?

"Cor, look at those teeth, make a quick meal out of you darling!"

Abby stood beside him and shoved her elbow into her friends ribs whilst rolling her eyes.

She was still too far from the anomaly. She could see Nick standing just in front of it, waiting for her with one arm out-stretched and a smile on his face.

She was so close

And then she was falling down the pit and into the deep dark. Falling…

#

The next time she woke she was still warm. Instead of a blinding white, there was a rocky ceiling above her with light flickering over the rough surface. She was wrapped up in what felt like fur.

"Wha?"

"Claudia!" Abby's face suddenly popped into view, the worried frown on her face relaxing at her friends open, clear eyes, no longer gazed by fever.

"God, you had me worried. You've been asleep or delirious for nearly two days! Here."

She helped her friend sit up and manoeuvre her to lie against the wall. Claudia closed her eyes and was silent as the world spun around her, her body trying to get used to being upright again.

When she opened her eyes, Abby offered her a bowl of water. The bowl was made of rock, naturally curved but had been hammered at, to make it deep enough to hold water.

"Your wound was infected. You had a fever, were delusional. They… the people here put this paste on it. It was made by all these plants and stank but what ever it was, it's worked. The infections almost gone."

Looking around her for the first time, Claudia saw the group of prehistoric men, women and children gathered around the blazing fire that stood toward the entrance of the cave, sheltering from the extreme weather outside.

"The girl we saved, the one we pulled out of that pit? She seems to be the leaders daughter. When you passed out they carried you and me because I wasn't far behind you on the whole fainting thing…"

Claudia gave a little laugh.

"You have been spending too much time with Conner." 

Abby smiled sadly.

"I've had no one to talk to for two days. I don't understand them, they don't understand me. They gave us shelter, food, medicine and I can't even thank them."

"I think they're thanking us." Claudia told her. Abby slumped down beside her.

"So what do we do now?"

#

They stayed with the family for two weeks whilst Claudia recovered. They managed to communicate with a mixture of signs and sounds. Two of the females Abby had called Trinney and Susannah made them clothes out of mammoth the hide and taught Claudia how to make more clothes and rope. The men were out hunting, but Nor, the girl from the pit showed them how to make traps and stalk small animals.

They knew they couldn't stay food was scarce and the family couldn't 'afford' to keep them. But they taught them how to survive, how to hunt, make food and shelter before the two women left the safety of the family. Honestly Neanderthals were the best teachers when it came to hunting and survival skills.

Five days after they had struck out on their own, Claudia was skinning a hare, when she saw an anomaly opened at the base of the rock formation they sat upon. They collected the bags they had prepared full of tools, weapons and extra clothes and food. Taking one last look at the frozen winter wonderland, they stepped though.

A/N

Sorry for the longer wait. Have essays and presentations piling up but will try and get the next chapter done for mid next week.

Hope this is ok.

Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Really sorry i haven't updated recently. Life as usual got in the way. Hope to have the next chapter up by the weekend. Thanks again to everyone reading and feedback would be really appriciated.

Chapter 6: Meanwhile

It had been one month, three weeks and five days since he'd last seen her. Nick leant back at his desk chair, tapping a pencil on the stack of unmarked dissertations that he should have been marking. His eyes fixed on the picture on his desk. He'd removed the photo of Helen when he'd met her for the first time since her disappearance. She had made it very clear that the woman he married no longer existed.

When she had come though last week, she had brought with her some future predators. Savage beasts that had killed dozens before they were themselves destroyed. Helen had been cold, unaffected by the bodies of the three special forces officers that he and Captain Ryan insisted on burying before they returned, intent only on her agenda. The future. She had asked him to go with her but he knew she didn't want him, she was lonely and wanted company .He had refused. He wanted nothing to do with her.

Helen never went with out having the last word though. Stephan's betrayal hurt more than his former wife. The fact that his former friend seemed to think that because it happened so long ago, it wasn't such a big deal didn't help. He could barely look at him. Connor was the only one he really paid attention to these days. The young student had thrown himself into finishing his dissertation, (toning down on the far-fetched extraterrestrial angles). Though his 'consultancy' with the home office he was able to keep Abby's flat, convinced that his friend would appreciate it when she returned. Connor refused to hear otherwise no matter what Lester and Stephan said. Cutter wouldn't do anything to dent that belief, because he wanted so badly to believe it too.

Despite knowing that the odds were against them, Nick couldn't bring himself to believe Claudia was dead. Helen had been amused to learn that Claudia and Abby had been lost in the past. She'd make a callous remark about how long she thought they would last. Her cruel comment only added to the painful knot in his stomach every time he tried to picture his missing friends.

How could they survive with no supplies, in a dangerous world?

Stephan watched him from the door, trying to decide whether to enter or not. He wished Nick would get angry, shout at him or even hit him. Just outwardly react to his stupid mistake instead of this calm withdrawal. The older man looked tired, he had aged since the incident with the raptors.

He took a deep breath and entered the room, catching the professor's attention.

"How's the marking going?" He asked looking at the piles of printed sheets.

"Nearly done."

"Fancy a drink?" He asked, as he had every evening for the past four days, trying to bridge the sudden gap between them, knowing that Nick would refuse.

"I've got a lot of other work to start to start."

Steven watched angrily as Nick refused to even raise his head to look at him, choosing to stare down at the unmarked paper. Deciding to force the issue, he sat down in the chair opposite, his temper spiking as he watched Nick tense.

"Well let me help you then."

"I rather do them on my own, Steven , if you don't mind,"

Steven stood violently, sending the chair back into the far wall on its wheels and leant over the desk.

"For God's sake, Cutter, how long is this going to go on for!" He half shouted, wincing at the look that Nick sent him. "I'm sorry for what happened with Helen, it was a long time ago and it meant nothing. So why can't we just move past this."

"Because it may have been years ago to you, Steven, but it was a week ago to me!" And finally Nick snapped. "You were supposed to be my friend. I've trusted and relied on you for years only to find that you've been laughing behind my back for years."

"Of course I haven't."

"Well I don't know that do I? I don't know you. Tell me this, how the hell am I supposed to trust you now? Now back off and leave me alone!"

"We need to sort this out." Steven told him, a little shaken by the truth in the older mans words.

"No. You want to sort this out, so you can get on with your life without feeling guilty. Sorry, Steven, but making you feel better is way down on my list of priorities."

The two men stood staring angrily at each over before Steven broke the look and stormed out of the room.

Cutter just stood there, feeling just a bit of the pressure ease off now the other man had left. Dropping back into the chair he banged his head once on the desk before reaching for the next paper.

That was when the phone rang.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx


	7. Chapter 7

Here is the lastest. Not sure when i will be able to update next. Feedback would be really appriciated. Thank You for Reading this.

Chapter 7: All roads lead to the Forest of Dean.

Captain Tom Ryan was bored. Easter bank holiday and he was sat in the security base by the first known anomaly in the pouring rain. Fun. As commanding officer, he rarely had to stand guard at the observatory posts so he couldn't really complain.

He remembered the first time he'd seen this mysterious anomaly. To be honest, he had thought that Ms Brown was off her rocker when she had briefed him on the strange occurrence. But to actually step back in time, put his feet on an ancient world. It blew his mind.

He felt a small pang of guilt at the thought of Ms Brown and her friend. He hadn't thought too much of the young woman at first, too naive. Then she had started to grow into her position. And God knows he'd rather take orders from her, than the insufferable kiss-ass Lester had stuck them with, Leek. The professor obviously thought so too as the other man rarely followed the paper-pushing puppet's orders.

It was them that he heard the alarm. They had set up a device to sound when a magnetic field started to form in the area around the anomaly. He watched, gripping onto his weapon as it burst open and waited for any surprises.

He got one. But not the one he was expecting.

The anomaly stayed open but silent all morning. An air of nervous expectation rippled though out the small group guarding the doorway. Ryan had handed over to his relief and was preparing to leave when a yell and quick lock of weaponry drew all eyes to the anomaly.

Two women were slowly stumbling out. They wore strange, primitive clothing covered with blood. Both were injured, leaning heavily on each other as they cleared the site and collapsed onto the forest floor. A blond and a brunette. Ryan held his breath as the significance struck him and his made his way slowly toward the fallen pair. The brunette had a tight grip on the knife in her hand and a sharp eye on the surrounding soldiers, no sign of recognition in her eyes.

Sensing someone closing in on her, she quickly jumped up into a crouch, only half successful thanks to the bloody wound on her leg. Her eyes were glazed with fever and Ryan knew he had to be careful.

"Claudia?"

Nick Cutter hit the hospital doors at a run, closely followed by Conner and Steven as they sped into the busy department. Steven headed for the reception, Nick didn't bother. Instead he turned a full circle till he saw, the somewhat familiar shape of a Special Forces officer and headed toward him.

Ryan stood a side and allowed Nick to enter first before following him into the observation room. Separated only by thick sealed glass, they had a clear view of the occupants of the quarantined bay.

In the two beds surrounded by funky looking equipment, lay the woman they had thought they would never see again. A wave of relief so huge he couldn't describe it washed slowly over him, and he savoured each moment of the painful release.

His eyes sort Claudia, fixing on the woman as she lay asleep on the hospital bed. Her skin was browner, her hair tangled and dirty. She was leaner, muscled, her face was dirty, deep bruises under her eyes, her face a tired grey, but Nick couldn't take his eyes off her.

Conner was having the same trouble with Abby. The young woman looked exhausted, her platinum hair now past her shoulders and in good need of a wash. A scar marred the skin of the hand curled protectively over chest. She had also lost weight and gained some muscles but looked in good need of a meal and a nice long shower. But to Connor, she had never looked more beautiful.

"How are they?" Steven asked the doctor who had come in behind them.

"Miss Maitland and Miss Brown are out of immediate danger."

The men turned to face the doctor, eager to hear all.

"I'm Doctor Sullivan. Miss Maitland has a concussion, two broken ribs and a broken wrist. She is being woken every half an hour and is responding well. Miss Brown had a deep, penetrating wound to her upper thigh and an older wound on her arm. Both are infected, but she does seem to be responding to the antibiotics we started, it's a bit early to tell."

"When will they wake up," asked Connor, eager to speak to his friend.

"When they're ready and not a minute before." Dr Sullivan told them sternly. "You are not to wake them. They are both suffering from exhaustion, malnutrition and dehydration. They need the rest."

Lester had been annoyed not to question the girls at once, but Dr Sullivan had stood up to him. Nick was amused to see the tiny woman stand up to the blustering pencil pushing weasel and Leek, banning them from the hospital for twenty-four hours.

He, Steven and Connor had set up camp in the waiting room, taking it in turns to see the girls.

It was when Nick was watching Abby that he started to think. How fast did human hair grow? Abby's hair was a good six inches longer and was cut unevenly. The scar well healed.

"You said Claudia had been stabbed?" He questioned Dr Sullivan when she came into check on the girls.

"Yes, in the thigh."

"What about her side. Her right side," he asked, remembering the raptors claw striking her before she fell.

"Pardon?"

"The last time I saw her she'd been stabbed in her right side. Is there a scar?"

"I did notice some old scarring on her side."

"How old?"

"A guess? Years."

Nick went cold.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

A/N. I'm sorry i haven't updated in a while. life unfortunately got in the way. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but here goes...

The Waking World.

He was there when she started to wake. His gaze fixed on blurry eyes that opened slowly, wincing against the bright light. She wasn't looking at him, her eyes staring in surprise at the ceiling. She slowly turned her head away from him, looking at the night sky beyond window. His eyes traced her face, her neck as she gulped and took a deep breath. Claudia then froze as she became aware of the man behind her. She reached for the weapon that was no longer there, rolling over and ready to attack…

"Hey." Just one whispered word in a strangely familiar Scottish accent caused her to lie in shock on her side, starring at him. He looked the same as she remembered, tired, scruffier, but undeniably Nick Cutter.

He sat waiting for a sign that he'd heard her, waiting for her to talk, say anything. He watched as her wide eyes stared at him, feeling slightly uncomfortable at her intense gaze. She then turned and took in the room, looking for something, or someone. When Nick saw her panicking slightly he quickly realized what had distressed her.

"Abby's just having an X-ray." Claudia's eyes snapped back on him. "She'll be back soon." He promised her.

"Is this…are we…" He voice was small scared. As if she was afraid to believe. She looked away and down at her hands on the thin hospital blanket.

"You're in hospital. You and Abby came though the anomaly in the Forest of Dean." Her slow, quiet reactions were scaring him. All he wanted to do was reach out and touch her.

"We were in the Permian." She told him, nodding her head as she gathered her thoughts. "We recognized the Gorgonopsid and the other…tortoise creature."

"Scutosaurus."

"Sure." She took a deep breath and looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"This is real, isn't it?" She asked him, almost pleading with him.

It was that tone that broke him, snapping his restraint like a twig. He covered the distance between them in two long strides and pulled her into his arms. Claudia clung to him, her fingers digging into his clothes as she attempted to bury herself in him, shaking silently.

"It's real." He told both her and himself, rocking her slowly. "It's real." They held on for what seemed like hours before they pulled apart reluctantly. Nick sat on the edge of her bed, refusing to let go of her hands. Not that Claudia was going to release them.

"How long?" He asked roughly, his voice raw. "How long has it been for you?"

"I'm not sure." Claudia said shakily, then frowned in concentration, thinking. "Do you have my bag? It has a diary in it. We used it to mark the days…" She looked around for the worn-out make-shift bag she had carried everywhere.

"Er… It's over here" Nick said, reluctantly leaving her side to go back to his chair where he'd left the interesting piece of history.

"This bag is fascinating." He told her handing it over. "And it's contents are incredible".

"Some Neanderthals made it for us."

"Neanderthals?" Nicks eyes flew up in surprise and his mouth gapped. "Oh that's just brilliant."

"We wrote it all down," she told him, thumbing though the diary pages, nervously. Still in shock. She stopped on a particular page and read it over, her eyes fixed on something.

"Four years." She said in a quiet voice. "I already knew but I had to see it again."

Nick sat back on the bed. He gently took the book from her hands, keeping one hand wrapped around her cold one.

"Three years, eight months and two days." She looked up at him her eyes guarded. "It hasn't been that long for you has it?"

Nick swallowed. He had already known she had been missing years, but to hear it from her own lips had stunned him.

"No."

"How long?" She asked bracing himself for his answer. She squeezed his hand hard. "Nick…How long?"

"Almost two months."


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days passed in a tedious crawl. Cutter barely hid his amusement as the feisty Doctor Sullivan continued to make Lester and Leeks access to the women difficult. Unfortunately she had good reason to protect them from their approaching debriefing.

Since their arrival Claudia and Abby had spent most of their time sleeping. It was hard for them. They had mourned the loss of their 'world' and just focused on surviving for so long, that to stumble back home was such a relief. That they had only been missing for small fraction of the time they had been lost hadn't sunk in yet. In ways it helped. The world hadn't changed much at all. But they had.

It went beyond the physical differences Cutter had noticed whilst waiting for them to wake. Despite their exhaustion they stayed in a light sleep, waking at every little noise. They were hyperaware of their surroundings and having only had each other for company, they found other people unnerving.

After clinging to Nick so fiercely that first night, he was disappointed when Claudia withdrew slightly from him. He was comforted by the fact that she made an effort when he visited regularly, trying to draw him into conversation with Abby and Conner who joined him most visits. He had enjoyed watching them devour the large box of chocolate he had brought them. The pizza he had brought them the next time he visited was also demolished quickly. Today he was smuggling in two Starbucks latte's which they had begged for. He'd held off knowing that Doctor Sullivan would frown over the less than nutritional beverage but the two women's pleas broke him.

He was sitting there watching them inhale the much missed caffeine with amusement when Dr Sullivan walked in. She eyed the two travel containers with a disapproving frown then threw him a small glare, knowing who had smuggled the contraband in. He just smiled back at her, not feeling guilty at all.

"And how are we this morning," she asked the two woman walking to the end of their beds to read their charts, not noticing the eye rolls at the royal 'we'.

"I'm good," Abby told her, toasting Nick with her coffee. "I've just had my three-year coffee craving satisfied." Claudia laughed in agreement.

Nick waited outside when the Doctor quickly looked them over, preventing a late Conner barging in to the side-room. He was surprised when they were called back into the room to talk afterwards.

"Well Abby, Claudia, your both fit for discharge. Obviously you still need to finish the antibiotics and have your dressing changed, but this can be done on an outpatient basis." Doctor Sullivan's statement was met by an awkward pause.

Conner had refused to believe that Abby was not coming back and kept up her flat. Her devastated parents hadn't packed up anything. It had been an emotional reunion with the Maitlands', who had been overjoyed at their daughter's safe return. Unfortunately they had, had to return home sooner than they wanted, but Abby was on the phone to them throughout the day.

In contrast, Claudia's parents had brought out her tenancy contract and put her belongings in storage. This had all been done by a colleague of Mr Brown, who was over seas on business. Mrs Brown was on a retreat with members of her country club. There had been one stilted conversation between mother and daughter, a very slightly warmer one between father and daughter and one tearful reunion with a heavily pregnant sister in law who had managed the trip from York to see her.

Claudia had nowhere to go. And it was obvious that neither she nor Abby where ready to be separated. Abby immediately offered to set up a camp bed, but her studio flat wasn't really big enough for the three of them. Claudia suggested asking the Home Office for some temporary accommodation somewhere.

"Listen, I have two spare rooms and a pull out sofa." He broke into the mini brainstorming session between the three of them. "You two could have the rooms and start to get used to being a little separated, Conner could have the couch. It'd be better than some hotel, you can relax, and Conner and I will be around if you need anything."

It made sense, but the two independent women were reluctant to put him out.

"You won't be." Nick assured them. "The rooms are always there and if either of you can cook that would just be great." Claudia threw a pillow at him for that remark, grinning despite herself.

"You need to get used to being around other people," He said seriously. "It would be better this way." It took another half an hour discussion, but in the end they agreed, at least until they were healed enough.

With mixed emotions they were released from the hospital the next morning. Conner had thoughtfully brought in some of Abby's old clothes for the two ladies which earned him a quick hug. The poor guy afraid to return it, after a rather enthusiastic hug he'd given Abby previously had resulted in a hard punch. He'd forgotten her fractured rib and was now constantly aware of it. When Cutter arrived to pick them up he managed to hide his concern when he saw how baggy the jogging bottoms were on the girls.

During the car ride Claudia starred transfixed out the window at the modern world. Women with young children walking in and out of shops, at the bus station, people working on stalls. Just ordinary people carrying out their lives as usual, completely unaware of was happening behind the scenes, no idea of the past…or the future. Life was carrying on as usual.

Cutter lived outside of London in a quiet neighbourhood. For the past seven or so years he'd been a bit of a recluse, estranged from his neighbours, so people did a double take when his guests got out of the car. Claudia watched as he waved cheekily at a house opposite him. She turned in time to see a curtain twitch back into place. Nick caught her watching and grinned.

"Nosey busybody," he explained. "Gossips like anything."

"Every street or building has one." She told him, remembering fondly of the elderly Mrs Dorothy who lived in the apartment opposite. She had made it her life's mission to track her movements and give her 'sound' advice, whether asked for or not. She felt a tug of sadness at not returning to her flat. A phone call to her former landlord confirmed that her flat had already been given to someone else.

Picking up a bag from the boot she stared up at Nick's house nervously. It was a friendly looking house, a bit shabby and unkempt. Not unlike its owner. She stiffed a grin at the thought and followed as Cutter opened the door and let them in.


	10. Chapter 10

After the nightmare.

A/N: I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. I admit I had thought my interest had long gone but my sister was re-watching Primeval from the beginning and I found myself thinking about this story and felt like writing some more. I know few people will read it but hey ho.

Many thanks to Walking with Monsters, Beasts and Dinosaurs and the many prehistoric era documentaries I have enjoyed watching which have helped with this story.

* * *

A loud crash of lighting pulled her viciously from a fitful sleep. Disorientated by the unfamiliar room and gasping for breath, Claudia hugged her knees to her chest as the storm raged outside. It was a just mild English thunder storm, but it amplified a million different memories of the past few years and woken her up in terror. Memories of pain, hunger and the rumble of the shifting earth flashed in front of her eyes. The cries of great beasts caught up in the Mother Nature's harsh temper.

A trembling hand fumbled for the bedside lamp, which she flipped on with difficulty. The dim light lit the room softly, allowing her to view her surroundings. Nick had put her in the upstairs guest room. It was a plain room in soft colors, comfortable, but impersonal. She wasn't surprised. Helen had never struck her as the hospitable type and she had seen the Nick's office.

It had been a pleasant weekend tucked up in Nick's house. She and Abby had relished the central heating, soft mattresses and the ready available food. Abby was catching up on her soaps whilst Claudia trawled the internet, catching up on current world events and when she felt able, starting to write her statement, a report to cover the past four years. Conner was like a hyperactive child. He had tried to watch soaps with Abby, but after one too many spoilers the girl had kicked him out the room. He had then gone to work with Nick who had tolerated him for a while but soon kicked the university student out of the study to make lunch. His lunch consisted of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches which set off the fire alarm.

Soaps over, he had challenged Abby to try and reclaim her top spot on some sort of video game. One thing that had not been dulled or changed during the past four years, it was Abby's ability to rise to the occasion. It had saved their lives more than once, especially during the early days when Claudia's injuries had made her a liability. She owed Abby her life. Since their return, Abby avoided talking about their experiences. Claudia knew why. Survival had been first for so long, she

Nick had been great. He spent most of the day in the study, leaving only to refill his coffee cup. When Conner and Abby's video game began to grate on her nerves, he had granted her sanctuary in the small hideaway. He had sat at his desk reading though articles and scribbling notes whilst she taken over the cosy armchair with her laptop and typed, deleted and retyped her report. They had worked in a cosy quiet, occasionally breaking the silence with a quick question, opinion or offer of a coffee. When the words didn't come to her, Claudia surreptitiously watched the professor work, amused at his facial expressions when he read something he didn't agree with and the muttered grumblings under his breath.

It was easier during the day, but at night…

At night, she felt utterly alone. She knew Abby was just downstairs with Conner, Nick just across the hall, but she wasn't used to being on her own. There was safety in numbers, but she was just one. Feeling the overwhelming urge to cry, she buried her head into her knees swallowing hard. She would not go downstairs. She was a grown woman who had survived ice ages, meteors, forest fires and sandstorms. She was not afraid of a little thunder and memories where just that, memories. They couldn't touch her.

Drowning in her misery, she almost missed the soft knock on her door.

"Yes, come in." She whispered just loud enough, wondering if Abby had also been woken by the rolling thunder.

The door creaked open to reveal a concerned Nick.

"Hey," He whispered back, noticing her red rimmed eyes. "I was on my way downstairs when I saw your light on. You OK?"

"Yes." Her voice was thick with tears she hoped he hadn't noticed. "Just woke up suddenly. "Did the storm wake you?"

"Couldn't sleep. I was going down for a drink. Want one?"

"I'm fine." She smiled weakly, fighting the urge to beg him to stay.

He asked her again but she declined and after a long look he left the room. Claudia listened to his footsteps move down corridor, then onto the stairs, shivering when he was out of ear-shot. Determined to be strong she took even breaths, even as the shadows that had drawn back at Nick's interruption began to close in again. A loud clap of thunder made her jump wildly and her grip on her knees became bruising. She squeezed her eyelids together, scolding herself. She hadn't been afraid of thunderstorms since she was seven.

_Stupid, stupid. Snap out of it Claudia! _

Minutes later she heard Nick start to ascend the stairs. She strained to hear his soft footfalls on the carpeted stairs and back towards their rooms. She waited for them to bypass her, but they stopped at her door. Her heart jumped as the door to her room creaked open again. A sheepish Nick stepped back into the room, two steaming cups of what smelt like hot chocolate in his hands.

"I thought, seeing as we are both up, we could keep each other company." He said, setting one mug in her reach on the coffee table and retreating to the other end of the bed, sitting at the foot of the bed.

She smiled gratefully at him, picking up the mug of chocolate and grinning at the large dollop of cream on the surface of the drink. He was constantly trying to feed them, small snacks here and there, trying not to be a pest but obviously wanting to fatten the two women up.

"I can't thank you enough." She told him sincerely. "For all of this."

"You don't have to…"

"Yes. I do." Claudia interrupted his protests. "Thank you for everything, for letting us stay here, for looking after us…for everything."

"It's a pleasure." Nick said thickly. "I'm just so glad your back, both of you, in one piece more or less." He joked.

"Me, too." She whispered. "I can't quite believe it. It's been so long…I honestly believed we would die out there. That our luck would run out. But we just kept surviving, kept going.

"You must have some stories."

"Of all genera." Claudia agreed. "Horror, survival, disaster, fantasy, sci-fi, wonder."

"Tell me a story."

"Any particular era?" She joked.

"Surprise me."

Claudia thought hard for a moment. He was right; they had many stories to tell, but which one to choose? What time, what monster?

"There was one time period, about three months in, that we were stranded in for a while. It was one of the more…enjoyable I guess. We were able to relax a bit. Not much but a bit. It was warm, very warm, humid, like a tropical rainforest. We walked for quite a while but we never left the trees. They were huge, taller than any I've ever seen. We could hide in the roots; we actually made a little burrow in them. We had figured out early that the anomalies were grouped together. Where ever we went, if we waited a few days, weeks or months, another anomaly would form within a few miles radius as the one we had arrived in."

She reached down under her bed and pulled out the bag that had accompanied her though time. She pulled out a rather battered set of keys; Nick saw how some of the keys had been sharpened into tools. Claudia showed him the same compass on a fob. The glass was cracked but it still worked.

"This was our guide. We would wait for it to go haywire and try and find the anomaly. Anyway, most of the animals were mammals and smaller than us. There were large rat like creatures with long snouts that had kangaroo legs and used to hop everywhere. They were bizarre, curious little creatures, not afraid of us at all."

"They sound like Leptictidium."

"We called them Kangarats." She laughed at his wince, "Sorry Professor. If I'd known I was going to travel back in time and get stuck in prehistoric times, I would have taken your class in preparation. "

"Claudia you could probably teach it better than I could." He laughed, muttering. "Kangarats."

"The birds were bigger. Meaner. There was this one bird, big, taller than a grown man. She ruled the roost, or at least the area we were in. She seemed to be the top predator. She really didn't like us. We called her Turkey-saurous, because if you ignored the huge beak and the talons, she just looked like a parrot-coloured turkey."

Nick shook his head, smiling at the idea.

"Do you have any idea where or when we were?" She asked him, curiously.

"A vague guess. Tell me more. Were there any oceans nearby?"

"No, just a lake. We had to stay away from it though. It was volcanic and looked very active. Not to mention the predators in there, early Croc's and this weird creature that had four legs but spent most of its time in the water. It looked a bit like a croc but Abby said it was a mammal. It used to come in land a bit and lie in wait for any prey."

"Sounds like an early whale."

"A whale!"

Cutter nodded seriously. "An Ambulocetus."

"It looked nothing like a whale."

"Nothing like a modern whale. I reckon you were in the Eocene Era, 40, 50 million years ago."

"Jeez. And the Turkey-saurous?"

"Possibly a giant Gastornis. It was in the early days of the mammals that birds got a brief look in at top of the food chain. "

"They made the most it." Claudia told him. "It was so strange, like we were on another planet. Every time you saw something familiar, something that reminded you of home, a dinosaur would wonder past, or a creature that also looked by a rhino but wasn't, or you'd look out at the seas but know you can't get too close to the shore."

Nick reached out and grabbed her hand, his touch soothing her rising anxiety. With a trembling smile she squeezed it before changing the subject.

"Your turn. Tell me something I've missed."

Nick was quiet for a moment in internal debate, the serious expression on his face sobering.

"It was quiet on the anomaly front for a while. I got a lot of marking done. Then about a month ago, the Forest of Dean anomaly re-opened."

"Our return wasn't the first one?"

"No. That's why there was such a large special forces guard when you came through. I knew it had to happen at some point but seeing it was another thing,"

"What?"

"The future. Helen had come though an anomaly from the future into the Permian. This future predator followed her. She then came here…"

"And it followed her." Claudia finished grimly. "What was it like?"

"A killing machine." Nick told her. "Extraordinary senses, speed, strength."

"Sounds terrifying."

"It was. They are. Helen, Ryan and I went back to the Permian with a Special Forces team to lead it back and destroy any other predators that made it through the anomaly after Helen. It did not end well. The Special Forces team was slaughtered, Ryan almost killed and if it hadn't been for a foul tempered Gorgonopsid…"

"My God." Claudia breathed.

"Yeah you didn't miss too much…"

* * *

Abby crept up the stairs quietly, her socked feet making no sound against the carpet stairs. She had become concerned when neither the Professor nor Claudia had come down for breakfast and when ten o'clock came and went she decided to check up on them. The door to Claudia's room was slightly open, so she stuck her head around the door and looked in.

Claudia was curled up on the bed, on top of the quilt, half sitting up on the pillows she hugged sound asleep. At the other end of the bed Cutter slept awkwardly, slouched down against the footboard at the end of the bed, one foot on the floor, the other stretched out along the bed. It was a cute scene. Leaving them to their rest, she crept back down the stairs and scrawled a note that she left on the fridge.

Conner had promised to take her to see Rex.


End file.
